WhatsApp Starts Letting Some Users Play Voice Messages in the Background

WhatsApp has started beta testing the anticipated global voice message player on iOS to let some iPhone users continue to listen to their voice messages even when they switch from one chat to another. The feature allows voice messages to be played in the background so that users can listen to them directly from the chats screen of the app. In addition to WhatsApp for iOS, WhatsApp Business for iOS has been spotted testing the new voice message feature with some beta testers ahead of its availability for the masses.

As per a report by WhatsApp beta tracker WABetaInfo, WhatsApp for iOS beta version 22.1.72 has introduced the global voice message player for some users. A few beta testers have reported its appearance on Twitter. The feature is also said to be rolling out to some beta testers on WhatsApp Business for iOS version 22.1.72.

WABetaInfo has shared a screenshot to give us some details about the global voice message player. It shows that the voice message player appears on the top of the screen to let users continue to listen to their voice messages when switching from one chat to another.

Normally, WhatsApp stops voice message playback when a user moves out of the chat in which they receive the particular message.

WABetaInfo notes that despite being on the latest beta version, there are chances that you might not be able to listen to your voice messages when you move to a different chat. It could be due to the fact that the feature has been rolled out just to some beta testers at the current stage.

Initially, WhatsApp was spotted working on the global voice message player on iOS in October last year. The feature also purportedly appeared to be in testing for Android users just earlier this week.

Exact details on when the global voice message player will be available to the public release of WhatsApp for iOS are yet to be revealed. WhatsApp may also bring some changes to the feature at the time of its arrival to general users.

For the last few months, WhatsApp has been improving the voice message experience on its app. The Meta-owned company brought a voice message preview feature to users last month to let them review audio recordings before sending them to their contacts. It also recently started testing waveforms for voice messages and added the ability to change playback speed of audio messages on the platform.